"Central government's proposal for UCC is half-baked idea": Uttarakhand Congress leader Navbharat

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 6 (ANI): Former Minister of Uttarakhand and current Disciplinary Committee president of Uttarakhand Congress, Navprabhat spoke about the ongoing issue of the Uniform Civil Code. Giving examples of CAA, NRC and Article 370, he termed UCC as a "half-baked idea".
"Personally speaking, I would like to draw attention towards CAA - its rules could not be formed to date. CAA can't be implemented until then...Second was NRC, there was a major demand for it in Assam but the end result was stark opposite of the expectations. This too proved to be a failed experiment," Navbharat said while speaking to ANI.
Navbharat argued that UCC cannot be implemented without repealing Article 371.
"They speak of Article 370 but this didn't impact only Kashmir but also the people of Jammu and Ladakh. The matter is before Supreme Court, maybe we get to hear something about it soon. UCC too is a half-baked idea. Article 370 was scrapped but Article 371 still remains. If we want to bring in UCC without repealing Article 371, it will be of no use," Navbharat said.
Article 371 of the Constitution gives special provisions for 11 states. Article 371A says that Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, and ownership and transfer of land without the concurrence of the state Assembly.
Navbharat said that the Central government is in haste in bringing up the Uniform Civil Code(UCC), which he said does not have a good effect on the country.
He also said that Congress can only present its official view on UCC only when a model draft is made available by the Central government.
"BJP does a lot of work in haste, which does not have a good effect on the country. Earlier the government had brought the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) which proved to be a complete failure. At the same time, there is a lot of talk about Article 370, the matter regarding that is still in the Supreme Court, and a decision will come soon on its constitutionality," Navbharat said.
He said that Congress has accepted the "ideal" system in the Constitution of India.
"Till the time society is not so developed, no law commission has considered the justification for implementing UCC. In view of the fast-paced developments, the Congress party is keeping an eye on it," Navbharat said.
Navbharat said that only when a model draft of UCC is available then only Congress can express its official opinion on it.
"Officially the party will be able to present its views only when a model draft will be available to us, whether it is from the central government or the Uttarakhand government," he said.
Navbharat also said that if the Parliament passes a UCC bill the Uttarakhand UCC will be redundant.
The Uniform Civil Code is a proposal to formulate and implement personal laws which will apply uniformly to all citizens regardless of their religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
The code comes under Article 44 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the state shall endeavour to secure a Uniform Civil Code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
In the BJP's 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, the party had promised the implementation of UCC if it came to power. (ANI)